Richland, WA Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Subsection (C)(2) of § 9.16.045 sits directly beneath the amplified-sound rule and covers the opposite case: 'any sound made by the unamplified human voice that emanates from a building, structure or property' during the same curfew windows, 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. in the central business district and 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. in every other use district, once it is 'audible greater than 50 feet from the building, structure or property.' Because the trigger is audibility at 50 feet rather than a decibel reading, Development Services and the Richland Police Department do not need a sound meter to act on a loud party, argument, or shouting match after hours; an officer's own observation from beyond the 50-foot line is enough to establish the violation.

The same enforcement path used for every other listed noise applies here: § 9.16.070(A) requires only a warning on a first violation, documenting the notice given, while § 9.16.070(B) makes a second or subsequent violation after that warning a misdemeanor under the general penalty at § 9.02.020(C). The exemptions in § 9.16.050 and § 9.16.055, covering daytime construction, utility repairs, aircraft, trains, and city-hosted special events, apply to (C)(2) exactly as they do to the rest of the chapter, and a special event permit under § 9.16.060 can also cover voice noise for an approved date and time.